Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate

The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate

“Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about recovery trends in the housing market described the National Association of Realtors incorrectly. It is a trade group–not ‘a government-backed mortgage finance company,’ such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.”–New York Times, Jan. 3

“Concrete news pages: An article in the Dec. 24 LATExtra section about Leon Rudek, who rendered front pages of the Los Angeles Times in concrete, was accompanied by a caption that said Rudek died in 1991. As the story noted, Rudek retired from The Times in 1991 and died 11 years later.”–Los Angeles Times website, Dec. 24

“Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Bugs Bunny’s most notorious enemy is Porky Pig. While the two are known to frequently squabble, often in the public eye, they are in fact good friends.”–Ha’aretz (Israel), Dec. 26

“An article on Dec. 19 about Mohammed Assaf, a Palestinian singer from Gaza who has become a star in the Arab world after winning the ‘Arab Idol’ competition, referred incorrectly to cities in Israel Mr. Assaf sings about. While they had largely Arab populations before Israel became a state in 1948, they were not ‘Palestinian’ in the sense of being part of a Palestinian political entity. The article also referred incorrectly to shortages of water, gas and electricity in Gaza. While Israel places restrictions on some goods coming into Gaza, and many Palestinians blame Israel for shortages, they were worsened by Egypt’s closing of smuggling tunnels and by a tax dispute between the militant Hamas faction, which governs Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority. The article also referred incorrectly to Mr. Assaf’s travels to Cairo for ‘Arab Idol’ auditions. The Sinai Desert is part of Egypt; he rode for hours through the Sinai from the border with Egypt, not to the border.”–New York Times, Dec. 31

Out on a Limb“I am going to make one prediction for 2014. It is that, for all John Kerry’s efforts, this will be another year in which peace is not reached in the Middle East.”–Roger Cohen, New York Times, Jan. 1

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control“Look for a Little More Economic Drama for Canada in 2014”–headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), Jan. 1